The passing of Dolours Price, a republican legend, has come as a deep shock to the entire community, regardless of politics or allegiance.

Dolours was a mother of two sons and former wife of leading actor Stephen Rea. She was found dead at her Malahide home on Wednesday night.

Her death has seen an outpouring of sympathy and respect on social networks, and hundreds of messages have been posted in tribute.

Dolours suffered profoundly from post-traumatic stress disorder relating to her time on hunger strike in 1973/1974, and had previously attempted to commit suicide.

In July last year, she said she was "completely distraught" with anxiety for the wellbeing of her sister, who is younger by three years. Marian Price was interned without trial by British decree almost two years ago, and is still under prison guard in hospital.

"We formed bonds in English prisons and in Irish prison that can never be broken," she said. "I hope and trust she will find the strength and courage to keep on going."

She had been a harsh critic of Sinn Fein in recent years and had repeatedly clashed with its leader, Gerry Adams, over his alleged role in the IRA and his party's 'sell out' of republican principles.

The Belfast native had also come under pressure in recent months as a result of interviews she gave in confidentiality with researchers associated with a 'conflict archive' funded by Boston College.

The taped recordings were subpoenad by the PSNI police as part of their historical investigations into the IRA -- potentially implicating Mr Adams and others -- but have since become mired in legal wrangles on both sides of the Atlantic, including a potential US Supreme Court challenge.

Mr Adams said yesterday he was "profoundly saddened" by Price's death and extended his sympathies to her family.

"I have known Dolours for a very long time. She endured great hardship during her time in prison in the 1970s, enduring a hunger strike which included force feeding for over 200 days," he said.

"In more recent years she has had many personal trials. I am sure all of those who knew Dolours will be very sad at the news of her death."

Sinn Fein's Gerry Kelly, who fought alongside her in the IRA, said he was shocked by the news. "A life cut short. She will be sadly missed by her family and friends."

The 32 County Sovereignty Committee offered their condolences to the Price family. "An unbowed and unapologetic Republican, she will be remembered fondly by all within the Sovereignty Movement."

In a statement, the two Boston College journalists, Ed Moloney and Anthony McIntyre, also expressed their sadness at her death.

"Throughout the last two years of our fight to prevent her interviews being handed over to the police in Belfast, our greatest fear was always for the health and well-being of Dolours," they said. "Now that she is no longer with us perhaps those who initiated this legal case can take some time to reflect upon the consequences of their action."

A TROUBLED LIFE

Dolours was one of the IRA's most prominent members during the early years of the recent conflict.

Her father Albert Price was a veteran IRA man, a survivor of the 1940s campaign. She recalled how her father would recount his years in the struggle, and said of her family that Republicanism was "part of our DNA".

Grammar-school-educated, she was in her final year of teacher training at St Mary's College on Falls Road in west Belfast when she was arrested for her part in an IRA's campaign on British soil.

She joined the IRA following internment in 1971. Before that she had been a member of the left-wing People's Democracy.

Attractive, well-spoken and university-educated, she was part of a new breed of articulate IRA members. She was the first female IRA member. Until that point women were recruited into the Cumann na mBan.

At just 22 years of age Dolours had already risen rapidly through the ranks of the IRA and was privy to the most secret of information as part of an elite unit.

She was the leader of a nine-member IRA team which included Sinn Fein's Gerry Kelly, and brought the war in the north of Ireland back to its source -- London.

Her role in a 1973 attack on the Old Bailey courts complex, one of the headquarters of the British injustice system, led her to be dubbed 'the Old Bailey bomber' by the Tory tabloid press.

She never doubted her actions in that campaign, in which only one person died. She said in her memoir: "In Belfast we gave 15 minute warnings, in London we'd given them an hour."

Following her arrest and trial at Winchester Castle in November 1973, she was jailed for life, and immediately began a 206-day hunger strike, demanding to be transferred to prisons in Ireland.

"Make no mistake about it, when I made the decision we'd be on hunger-strike, I had a vision we'd starve to death, it was that simple."

But her senior role in the IRA and her years of incarceration in England, took a toll on her mentally.

She very rarely spoke of her 206 days being force-fed and physically abused by English gaolers. Her sister Marian described the force-feeding thus:

"Four male prison officers tie you into the chair so tightly with sheets you can't struggle. You clench your teeth to try to keep your mouth closed but they push a metal spring device around your jaw to prise it open. They force a wooden clamp with a hole in the middle into your mouth. Then, they insert a big rubber tube down that. They hold your head back. You can't move. They throw whatever they like into the food mixer - orange juice, soup, or cartons of cream if they want to beef up the calories. They take jugs of this gruel from the food mixer and pour it into a funnel attached to the tube. The force-feeding takes 15 minutes but it feels like forever. You're in control of nothing. You're terrified the food will go down the wrong way and you won't be able to let them know because you can't speak or move. You're frightened you'll choke to death."

Both Price sisters were given early release from prison in the 1980s on health grounds.

MARIAN PRICE BAILED?

It is not yet known if Marian will be permitted to attend her funeral. In court on Friday there was confusion as to whether or not the 58-year-old was already on bail, as she was granted bail in 2011, shortly before she was interned.

While Judge David McFarland (again) granted bail, he added that it will now be a decision for the Parole Commissioners whether or not the grieving woman is actually released.

The funeral is likely to take place at St Agnes's Church in Andersonstown, Belfast, on Monday, followed by burial at Milltown Cemetery.

There follows a statement from the family of Marian Price McGlinchey.

We have received news that Marian's application for compassionate parole following the tragic death of her sister Dolours has been refused, despite her being granted bail earlier today.

Given Marian's current health issues it is laughable that she would pose any kind of security or flight risk. We feel this decision is nothing more than a continuance of a vicious and vindictive campaign on the part of the Prison Service, the Department of Justice and the British secretary of state along with M15 to destroy Marian both physically and mentally.

We would urge all right thinking people to utterly condemn this blatant breach of Marian's fundamental human rights.-----------------------------------------------------------------------

>>>>>> Police deal with UVF, UDA brings change in protest dynamics

Loyalists engaged in illegal flag protests are facing the threat of arrest this week for the first time since the disturbances began.

Roadblocks over the removal of the British Union Jack flag from Belfast City Hall have brought traffic chaos to the North since early December. In the past few weeks, large-scale riots have erupted in east Belfast in an obviously orchestrated manner.

But events on the streets have taken a turn following a meeting between PSNI chief Matt Baggott and the leadership of the unionist paramilitary UVF last week, and the violence appears now to have largely ended.

Baggott is understood to have met representatives of the UVF and UDA on Thursday, 17th January, as part of a carefully choreographed series of events. Earlier that day a statement was released by loyalist Church and community leaders - and backed by the paramilitaries - calling for an end to the trouble.

This statement was said to have justified a private meeting between Baggott and the leaders of the loyalist murder gangs. A deal was agreed, the details of which have not yet emerged, and the paramilitaries agreed to use their influence to reduce the violence.

Both the UVF and UDA have long demanded an end to investigations into their past crimes including sectarian murders, and a simultaneous increase in the official "community aid" schemes which channel millions of pounds to both organisations.

The talks have now resulted in a change in tactics by both the PSNI and the loyalist groups involved in the disturbances.

On Saturday, UVF gang members openly provided 'security' during a loyalist march from Belfast City Hall to east Belfast, and ensured that the violence was ended.

A similar march the week before resulted in hand-to-hand fighting with residents of the nationalist Short Strand and hours of rioting.

The PSNI have also adopted a marked change in tone. "Blocking the road is a criminal act," PSNI Detective Superintendent Sean Wright said on Wednesday, eight weeks after the roadblocks began. He said the PSNI had begun "moving proactively" to arrest people at the scene of "illegal protests or scenes of disorder".

The Parades Commission, who are tasked with handling the routes and conditions of sectarian parades in the North, have said they are also now monitoring the loyalist marches, after being bystanders for the past two months.

The end of orchestrated rioting and the PSNI/UVF 'clampdown' on the protests, now entering into their eighth week, has been broadly welcomed by the public and the business community.

The flag protests this week have been smaller, fewer in number and largely peaceful. Some loyalists and unionists supporting the quasi-political 'Ulster People's Forum' have continued to engage in street roadblocks, and have been subjected to arrest. Eleven loyalists were arrested on Monday evening as the new regime took effect.

Ulster People's Forum spokesman Willie Frazer said his group were now planning a "massive" demonstration in a shift in tactics. He said the group would engage in legal actions, and apply to the Parades Commission in regard to its parades for the first time.

Up to 600 loyalists are to take part in the first ever legal flag protest on Friday. The Parades Commission has approved the demonstration which will pass through the mainly nationalist lawn of Castlederg, County Tyrone, without restrictions.

Hundreds of processions have been held along public roads without consent from the Parades Commission since flag-related demonstrations began on December 3.

"It's a sign there are different things coming and that's a sign of the type of stuff that might take place," Frazer said.

"I know there's going to be a big one coming. They are saying they are not the numbers out on the streets there were 20 years ago. They are maybe going to get a surprise. There are plans for one big massive one [protest]."

Another flag protest leader, Jamie Bryson, called on loyalists arrested for blocking roads not to accept bail conditions and go to prison instead.

He characterised the reduction in the flying of the British flag above Belfast City Hall, now only raised for 17 'designated' royal events, such as the birthday last weekend of the 'Countess of Wessex', as an attack on civil rights.

"The road we will travel will not be easy. Our freedom and liberty is under attack and we must remain strong and united," he declared.

"Freedom isn't free and it's something we all take for granted until such times as it is under attack and we are oppressed.

"The road ahead will be difficult and many could end up being held in a lonely cell for the crime of loyalty to the crown and peacefully protesting. However, know this, at the end of it all we will emerge victorious.

"Whether in a lonely cell or soaring as an eagle, freedom is in the heart and the mind."

Mr Bryson also announced that his organisation had set up a "political prisoners group".

The British Direct Ruler Theresa Villiers has dismissed nationalist calls for a border poll on Irish unity, saying political attention was "better focused elsewhere".

The abrupt British rejection came as a blow to Sinn Fein who on Saturday held a major party conference on the issue. The party has pinned its hopes for eventual Irish unity on a unification vote within the Six Counties, which is permitted under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement but must meet the approval of both the Dublin and London governments.

DUP Stormont Minister Arlene Foster had earlier raised hopes for the plan when she said her party might "call Sinn Fein's bluff" over a referendum. She claimed that such a vote would be strongly rejected in the Six Counties in order to maintain the annual British subvention (payment) of ten billion pounds which is paid annually to sustain the failed local economy.

"Whilst Sinn Fein talks about a border poll it is the last thing they would want as they know the outcome would be so resounding - they should be careful what they wish for," she said.

But in Dublin last Saturday, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams argued that unification would bring greater prosperity in both parts of the island.

He said that a "planned single island economy would be good for prosperity; good for jobs; good for investment".

In a wide ranging speech, the Sinn Fein leader pointed out that the Good Friday Agreement commits the British government to holding a border poll and London has undertaken to legislate for a united Ireland if a majority of those voting express a wish that the north should cease to be part of the British union.

"It is time for the governments to set a date," he said.

On the issue of the political geography of the north, Mr Adams said that the northern state was "gerrymandered to allow for a permanent unionist two thirds majority", but pointed out that recent census figures reveal that only 40% of citizens there stated that they had a British only identity, and a quarter stated that they had an Irish only identity.

Commenting on the issue of identities and traditions, the Louth TD said that Sinn Fein wanted to "hear what unionists have to say" and would "use every opportunity to engage in dialogue at a personal level as well as in more formal ways".

Foster, considered a unionist hardliner, said the DUP had not yet reached a conclusion on the matter. But she suggested her party could decide to "put an end to this foolish talk once and for all" by backing the poll.

The 26-County Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, expressed wariness. He said: "I think we have a lot of work to do both here and up North before people's mentality and views change about the future of the island."

The situation was also complicated by the announcement of British Prime Minister David Cameron that he intends to hold a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU by 2017. A British decision to withdraw from the EU could have major consequences for the North of Ireland, probably requiring the return of police checkpoints and customs controls along the border with the South.

Despite Sinn Fein's calls for movement on the issue, the London government made clear that while they would allow the British public to vote themselves out of the European Union, there were "no present plans" to allow the people of the Six Counties a choice on the Union with Britain.

In a prepared statement, Theresa Villiers said: "Given the state of opinion in Northern Ireland, which is clearly expressed in election results and opinion polls, the [British] government has no present plans to call such a poll.

"It is crucial that political leaders here concentrate on working together on pressing economic and social issues, including the rebalancing of the Northern Ireland economy and building a genuinely shared society, rather than being diverted into divisive constitutional debates."

The rate of suicide among young people in Ireland is one of the highest in Europe, new figures show, with the rate even higher in the Six Counties area.

An estimated 165 teens and young men took their own lives in the 26 Counties in 2011, while another 72 died by suicide in the North.

The cross-border Men's Health Forum in Ireland (MHFI) said the high numbers in both jurisdictions coincide with the economic downturn and increasing levels of unemployment.

The study found Ireland's overall suicide rate was average in Europe, but when data focused on young men it lagged only behind the Ukraine, Finland and Lithuania.

It called for targeted measures aimed at reducing the rate of self harm and suicide in the under-30s.

Dr Noel Richardson, author of its report Young Men and Suicide Project, said there can be no quick-fix solutions to tackling the very grave statistics.

"But neither is there any place for inertia or ambivalence," he said.

"There is both a public health and a moral requirement to act.

"There needs to be a concerted effort to engage more effectively, and in a more sustained way, with young men, and to plan services and programmes with young men in mind.

"This report provides a blueprint and a roadmap for action."

People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said that the recession is leading to an increased suicide rate.

"The countries with the highest suicide rate increases were those most affected by the recession, namely, Greece and Ireland," he said.

There was a sense of despair being felt by young people who either could not find work or being treated as second-class citizens and asked to accept 20 per cent or 30 per cent less in salary than people who qualified a few years ago.

"Is it the case that the policies of cuts and austerity, which the Taoiseach is imposing, are leading directly to the sense of despair and hopelessness felt among young people which is leading to this increase in suicide rates?"

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the budget for the National Office for Suicide Prevention had increased from 4.1 million euro to 8.1 million euro.

But late last year, it was reported that tens of millions of euro, ring-fenced by the Dublin government to hire hundreds of staff to boost suicide prevention and mental health services this year, was instead used to tackle cost overruns in other parts of the health services.

A Derry man has revealed how he was approached at a French airport by two men who identified themselves as members of MI5. Another man has said he was recently approached to become an informer by the PSNI in Derry, while another reported recruitment bid took place recently in Manchester.

The incident in France took place in the early hours of Sunday morning last at Nice Airport when the man was returning from looking for work.

The man, who asked not to be identified, said: "As I approached the security desk at the airport, I felt a hand on my arm. There were three French policemen, two in plain clothes and one in uniform, who asked me to go with them as there was a problem with my passport.

"They led me through a few doors into what looked like a police office and then we went into a room with three chairs in it. One of them took my passport, walked out the door and came straight back in and handed it back to me. Then these other two men entered the room - one was an Englishman and the other had a Belfast accent.

"They asked me, 'What is a wee Derry man doing in the South of France for two days?'

"I told them I was doing a job and then they told me they were from MI5. I asked them what MI5 wanted with me and they said I was a senior member of the new IRA. When I challenged them on this, they said they knew everything.

"They asked me was I willing to work with them. I told them I had never been involved in anything in my life and they then suggested I take a look at a couple of photos. They then produced a folder and showed me a photo of this guy I know who I did work for. They also asked me did I know a couple of other guys and I said no."

The man claimed he was also offered money which he refused.

"They then offered me a phone number and said to take it and phone them and ask for Jim or Rob. They told me to phone the number at 12 midday on Tuesday and then they let me go but said they would see me again. I have no idea why they would have targeted me as I have nothing to do with anything."

On Tuesday of this week, the man took the number to his solicitor Paddy MacDermott and phoned it at 12 midday.

Mr. MacDermott said: "Our client phoned this number and the man known as 'Jim' answered. He chatted for a bit asking our client's travel plans and the like. I then took the phone and identified myself and asked what did they want with my client. There was a bit of a fluster at the other end and then they hung up.

"This is a deplorable attempt to recruit a hard working young man with a clear record who was only seeking employment. Actions like this only put people's lives in danger and, hopefully, he will now be left alone to go about his business. A complaint will be lodged on his behalf."

PSNI APPROACH

Meanwhile, a Sinn Fein councillor has raied concerns over a separate case after a local man was approached by the PSNI in the Buncrana Road area on Wednesday.

The man, who did not wish to be named, said the PSNI member said it would be "financially beneficial" for him to work for the force.

"I was walking to the shop on Wednesday morning and as I was walking along the Buncrana Road a silver Nissan Micra car stopped alongside me and the driver got out.

"He came up to me and held his hand out for me to shake and then said he was looking for directions to Whitehouse Park.

"I told him the way to go to get there and then he called me by my first name which surprised me because I had never seen him before and did not know who he was.

"He asked me if I was looking for work and I told him it would depend what type of work it is and he just came out and said that it was working for the police.

"I immediately told him I wasn't interested and he said I must be struggling with money and said it would be financially beneficial for me to help out the police.

"I told him that I wasn't interested and wouldn't know anything and didn't want to end up in the back roads with a bullet in my head," he said.

The man also said he was held on remand for a time in the 90s but insisted he is not involved in any political activity now.

He also said he was approached in similar circumstances in 1995 on Craigavon Bridge.

"I was pretty shaken by the whole thing and then when I was walking back to my house I saw the car driving up my street slowly and the man was looking at me. There was a woman in the passenger side and she looked to have a big folder on her knee.

"I am now worried about why they were looking at my house and what could be in that folder," he explained.

The man also said he has been worried since the encounter on Wednesday.

"I have been afraid to leave the house or open the door since then.

"I'm worried if I go outside it will happen again or that they will come to my house.

"I'm also worried that someone may have seen me talking to him and giving him directions and got the wrong idea," he said.

He added that he decided to go public to appeal to the police to leave him alone.

"I want this to stop because I'm worried about where it could go. That is why I wanted to let people know what happened," he said.

He also said he intends to raise the issue with his solicitor and the Police Ombudsman.

Councillor Fleming said she raised the incident with the PSNI.

"We raised this case at a meeting in Derry with the PSNI at a senior level and told them what went on here was wrong and that this individual wants to be left alone and free from harassment.

"I would urge anyone approached in a similar situation to go to a solicitor straight away and report the matter to the Police Ombudsman," she said.

MANCHESTER ENCOUNTER

The Gaughan Stagg Cumann of the 32 County Sovereignty Committee said it had been made aware of the actions of two British state operatives who made an overt approach to young people in a Manchester pub.

"They called one by their name, seeking to infer that they knew him. The two men were aged between 35 to 40 years if age, white, one was large in weight with a shaved head, the other was thin, with defined facial contours. The larger of the two had a pseudo Dublin accent that fluctuated into an English accent. He sought to engage one if the group in discussions about an armed group, stating 'you know who we mean'?

"He dropped names of people in England and made reference to Irish people killing Irish people, naming a Dublin family."

They said the young man rang his solicitors and gave an account and description of the two individuals.

"On his return the thin male tapped his shoulder and said 'You're too paranoid...Trust us.'

"A solicitor made his way immediately to the place in question to witness and record details and took statements from the group about the events.

"The men left almost immediately the solicitor arrived, making their way through side streets before getting into a car that pulled up on Whitworth street."

The Gaughan Stagg cumann advise political activist to be 'vigilant'.

"We commend the young man for his immediate action forethought in contacting his legal representative and acquiring I dependent observers and accounts.

"We encourage all activists to record any such events with their solicitor and comrades. Be vigilant, be aware."

Tributes have been paid to Inez McCormack, a key supporter of the MacBride principles on fair employment, who died this week aged 69 following a battle with cancer.

Outgoing US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and former Irish president Mary Robinson have led tributes to the human rights activist and trade unionist.

Ms McCormack, from Belfast but living in Derry, was involved in the Six-County civil rights movement in the late 1960s.

A Belfast Protestant who left behind her family's unionist background to become a lifelong activist in the fields of human rights, women's rights and fair employment, and helped bring the campaign to end discrimination against Catholics to the US.

She rose to become a trade union leader in a highly male-dominated scene, immersed in issues such as equality, urban regeneration and representing low-paid workers. Her campaigning attracted praise from Hillary Clinton, who said of her: "Her efforts to promote human rights and social justice remain an inspiration to me."

Brought up in a quiet Protestant area of County Down, McCormack attended an all-girl grammar school where one teacher described her as "a good brain but flighty." She left at the age of 16 to work as a typist. She was twice beaten up at protests, once at a Six-County civil rights march and once at an anti-Vietnam war demonstration in London's Grosvenor Square.

She was radicalised by her experiences on the streets. She recalled: "I was a puzzled young Prod - until I was 17 I hadn't knowingly met a Catholic. I was a young Protestant girl who didn't understand that there were grave issues of inequality, injustice and division in our society. It wasn't that Protestants didn't suffer deprivation, but there was systematic discrimination against Catholics."

In 2011 Newsweek magazine named her as one of "150 women who shake the world," the only one to come from the north of Ireland. More than a decade ago she was diagnosed with cancer which was treated by major surgery to remove what she described as "a tumour as big as a man's fist from behind the heart."

Among those who have paid tribute to her were the Irish president Michael D Higgins, the former president, Mary Robinson, and Hillary Clinton. Clinton said: "She travelled the world encouraging young women to be agents of change in their communities and countries. We have come so far in part because of her insistence on a seat at the table for women and others who have been marginalised."

------------------------------------------------------------------- US radio talk show host Sandy Boyer (SB) interviewed Bernadette Devlin-McAliskey (BDM) about next week's Bloody Sunday March in Derry. The following is a transcript of that interviews, which also ranges over other matters. -------------------------------------------------------------------

SB: We're going over to County Tyrone, Coalisland, Co. Tyrone to speak to Bernadette Devlin-McAliskey. Bernadette, thanks very much for being with us.

BDM: Hi, Sandy. Thank you.

SB: And Bernadette, forty-one years ago on January 30th 1972, you were at the civil rights rally in Doire. You were on the platform when the British paratroops opened fire and killed thirteen people. And now forty-one years later you're going over to speak at the rally that the relatives are organising. Tell us a little bit about that.

BDM: Well I think the history of Bloody Sunday itself is well known and then following that the very, very long battle to try and discover the truth of the government action on that day and to clear the names of the dead from the responsibility placed on them for having been accused of participating in unlawful and violent behaviour and basically causing the event.

People are also I think familiar that after a very, very long campaign of over thirty years the British government set up a public enquiry which itself then became very controversial. An enormous amount of public funds was spent on the enquiry. Most of it necessitated by the amount of money it required to prise the information out of government and government agents in order to bring it forward to a government financed enquiry.

At the end of the day Lord Saville did report and he exonerated all of the dead from any unlawful or violent behaviour. And he placed the blame for Bloody Sunday on the soldiers on the ground on the day and on one or two of their commanders at a lower level.

Many people immediately following that were caught up in the euphoria of finally being able to: a) to be able to get a verdict on the innocent victims ... the thirteen people killed on the day and (b)) to have an assertion - finally, publicly - that the people on that day were exerting their lawful and peaceful right to assemble and to protest against the actions of government.

But from my own perspective, and I think it's important to say that Sandy, from Bloody Sunday itself I was one of the very few people never to call for a government enquiry. I didn't call for it and I never supported the call for it. I respected the right of the relatives to do so because I believed that the government at the highest level was implicated in that decision, that it was a war crime and that Britain should have been held to account at The Hague where governments are held to account for crimes of that nature.

So as the years have gone on it has become increasingly clear - and Saville was limited and couldn't find some of the information (of course, he didn't look) - that would have implicated very high ranking members. And we've seen now things that we now know that we didn't know then around the Pat Finucane inquiry and the importance and the role played by MI6 and MI5.

A number of the families continue to protest. The majority of the families have supported a Sinn Fein position that Saville basically draws a line under this.

But there are many people who still, and I include myself there, who still demand to know what was the role of government because the blame for Bloody Sunday has been basically left by the government on the foot soldiers that they sent in there and the result, as it stands, quite a body of evidence to show complicity of government but it was never examined by Saville.

SB: Well why is it that have Sinn Fein and some of the relatives have said: no, let's put a line under this, it's over, we got an apology from David Cameron, let's just move on?

BDM: Well I think that a number of public enquiries became caught up in that. You know it's difficult to set it out there because the importance of closure and the importance of answers to victims can't be under-estimated.

But justice is not the sole terrain of victims. The whole of society needs to have justice and needs to have truth.

So while, if you'd like, the verdict of innocence for all of the civilians killed was a great relief to the families and allowed them closure, it became a sort of thing that the families could then in a way, dictate the pace to everybody else.

And so when the majority of the families were happy with the outcome for their particular family it made it easier for politicians then to avoid the more embarrassing bits that will inevitably come to play - that the political organisation of Sinn Fein, which was the political leader, the single biggest political leader of the struggle and the resistance, is now in government - and through time will find itself to be in government and in administration with a government that has apologised left, right and centre but not for what it actually did and for what, in all reasonableness I'd suppose when you look at it, continues to do.

Because if we look and we come right up to now...just today I saw in the newspaper things that have become commonplace, Sandy. You look at the newspaper today and you read that the Lord Chief Justice, who now is not a member of the old aristocracy, the old British, the Protestant ascendancy - he's from Saint Malachy's old boys - he's the Catholic intelligensia in government and in high places - and the Chief Justice has put a reporting ban, a public reporting ban, on three re-trials, we don't even know which they are but three re-trials and that's where the court, where convictions have been overturned as unsafe and the people have been sent for retrial - there's going to be no reporting - even as to what the trials are - until they have been adjudicated upon.

There is now, which is my other reason for going to Bloody Sunday, is there is now less room and less tolerance by those in government, including those in the Assembly and the Executive, for any opposite voice, any voice of opposition, any dissenting, any critical voice to the status quo or to the government line.

And these are very dangerous times. And you see the first of it when you see riots in East Belfast.

SB: Well, speaking of the riots in East Belfast ... in Doire they are erecting flags of the Parachute Regiment, the people who did the killing, in Loyalist areas that can be seen...

BDM: Well, of course! Sectarianism raises its head again and the flags dispute in Belfast has enabled us to see just how fragile and contrived the new dispensation that they speak of actually is.

And I've been saying that for some years; in fact I think for about fifteen. And when you say that people then say: Do you want to go back to war? No!

If you speak out loud then, if you voice any critical analysis of what is happening, you are accused of taking people back there. But it is the pretense that we have a settlement, the pretense that we have a justice, the pretense that we have a future that we do not, that is bit by bit being laid bare and these are very dangerous times.

SB: Bernadette, speaking of very dangerous times, we have a situation where Marian Price and Martin Corey are in imprisoned indefinitely without a trial and no release date.

BDM: Yep.

SB: There've been protests but nothing has happened.

BDM: Yep. There are a number of things and I suppose that may be a longer conversation, Sandy, about how this process has been put together and how the slow realisation, particularly of people within Sinn Fein as an organisation, the very, very slow, fragmented realisation that this is not what they wanted or not what they thought it was, has allowed the fragmentation of that movement in various steps.

So that when you have things like virtual internment without trial, when you have the deterioration of the rights and conditions of prisoners, when you have the conviction of Brian Shivers overturned - the man refused bail and put on trial again which is what's happening - you have a whole series of things against - as well social and economic austerity, increasing poverty, cuts in the welfare and health systems - you just say why is there no coherent organisation against it?

And it is because, and I said it when the framework documents many years ago were sent out, the British policy here was not peace - it was pacification, demilitarisation, demobilisation and demoralisation.

And the people who are suffering from the political, social and economic ills are so fragmented amongst themselves because each of them pulled out of the process at a different stage and none of them trust each other.

SB: But Bernadette, if we give Sinn Fein complete credit for everything they say - and they have protested for Marian Price, they have protested for Martin Corey - you'd have to come to the conclusion that they're powerless in this administration.

BDM: Well, exactly! And I think that is the position that we have come to.

The British administration have extracted all they can from a compliant parliamentary nationalist position of both the SDLP, which is now a minority position, and Sinn Fein so they have nothing else with which to negotiate.

And Sinn Fein may have forgotten who their adversaries were but they're very foolish to think that a British Empire much older than their little upstart selves would forget so quickly who Sinn Fein were.

SB: And now we have these Loyalist protests in Belfast mainly, which have paralysed the city and cost the merchants tens of thousands of pounds and neither the established Unionists nor Sinn Fein nor the SDLP seem to be able to do anything about it.

BDM: Well, it's interesting to see how that comes.

It's ironic to see Loyalists in the ghettos of East Belfast shouting "PSNIRA", accusing the police of being supporters of the Republicans when there's no evidence of that. The police have been afraid to control the demonstrations and therefore, despite the fact that they are unlawful assemblies the legislation around unlawful assembly has not been used and they haven't been dispersed. They have been allowed to, in an exercise of what is called "peaceful protest", they have actually been allowed to intimidate the police.

The thing was started by Mike Nesbitt's Unionist Party and Peter Robinson's DUP in an effort to create a crisis that would expose the Alliance Party. And they were so out of touch with reality because they believe in this contrived peace process that they didn't understand what they were actually doing and they unleashed this on the streets and they can't control it.

It'll be interesting to see how, when the marching season comes around, the police tactics as used today will then be able to be changed in order to control much larger manifestations of marching and flag waving and what we see from that and what we can particularly see in the whole confusion and inarticulate rage of people, which is a very, very small grouping, but it is a reflection of a reality that while it's being portrayed differently, because there's always been much more political oganising on the Nationalist side, you have the leadership of Unionism and Nationalism basically closeted into a sectarian, a management of sectarian divisions, around a peace process - and there's always a management of sectarian interfaces.

And at the top benefiting from it.

And on both sides you have the people who've gained nothing from the peace: the poor - the working class Loyalist - the poor - the working class Nationalists.

And sooner or later, Sandy, somebody's going to have to realise that it is the ideology of Unionism and Nationalism that is flawed. Sooner or later we're going to have to have conversations about class interests and imperialism.

SB: Well, we will await that day.

BDM: We've been waiting a long time, Sandy. (both laugh)

SB: We have indeed and some of us have been talking about that for a long time especially yourself. And Bernadette, thank you very much. It's always a pleasure.

Here are a few questions. Is the UDA still illegal? Is the UVF still illegal? If so, how would you know? Can anyone remember the last time anyone was charged with membership of either group? Can anyone remember the last time anyone was arrested and questioned about membership of either group?

Since the very first outburst of violence at Belfast City Hall on December 3, senior police officers have been briefing the press and saying publicly that 'known UVF members' were seen fomenting disturbances. The chief constable, using hair-splitting weasel words, has said UVF members 'as individuals' have been organising disturbances in east Belfast. By using that terminology he carefully avoids any suggestion that the UVF has broken its ceasefire and should therefore be 'specified' as in breach.

The media, the press in particular, almost on a daily basis, identify named individuals as "a senior UDA figure" or "the leader of the UDA who is based in Sandy Row" or who is a so-called 'brigadier' in some part of Belfast.

Incidentally, most of the people so identified have been regularly meeting senior DUP politicians. Some of them were publicly glad-handed at the Unionist Forum.

We're also told senior police officers met UVF leaders last week. Is this not an extraordinary state of affairs that such double standards apply at the highest levels in policing and in what passes for politics in Northern Ireland? No, not in the least. It has always been the case. It's just that these days the police in particular are more open about it. Sadly it seems that the PSNI is just as ambivalent about unionist paramilitaries as unionist politicians have always been and the RUC was before them.

Can you imagine the uproar if senior police officers said known IRA men were organising riots? Can you imagine the same police meeting the IRA to negotiate an end to the riots?

There's another crucial difference, The IRA has gone away yet the police are still pursuing individuals to charge them with membership years ago. On the other hand it is crystal clear that neither the UDA nor the UVF has gone away. On the contrary, its members are still active as they always have been in subverting and polluting the working-class communities they have always blighted with the help and indulgence of the security forces.

Why is it impossible to get through to police and unionist politicians alike that people in the districts dominated by these organisations don't like them, don't support them and want them off their backs? Repeatedly front parties for these organisations have stood for election and what is the result? A fraction of one per cent of the vote, Laughably even UDA members don't vote for UDA candidates so unionist politicians have absolutely nothing to fear from these organisations.

As for the police, they know perfectly well people in the districts in question have no time for the UDA and UVF and would love it if the police acted to get rid of their baleful influence, Instead they are elevated to the role of permanent state employees as 'community workers'. Sometimes we're even told they are 'community leaders'. Says who? Let one of them try to get elected as a community leader in a secret ballot.

This deeply unsatisfactory relationship between the PSNI and unionist paramilitaries is compounded by the failed strategy the chief constable has been following by not dealing with people blocking roads and by permitting the Parades Commission legislation to be flouted on a weekly basis. Does he not realise his flawed approach is storing up serious trouble for his officers in the summer when they try to enforce legislation they have been ignoring since December 3? Perhaps more importantly his inaction, apart from costing business in Belfast around #15 million and unknown losses in terms of inward investment, is seriously damaging nationalist confidence in the police.

Does he imagine for a second there would be a unionist uprising if people blocking roads were pushed aside when in many cases the people demanding their removal are unionists?

Yes, the PSNI has passed the test defending the Short Strand and taken many injuries but there's a wider picture which the chief constable seems unable to see.